anyone ever cheaped out and done a u-bolt flip with square u-bolts?

i just rebuilt my leaf springs and with the added thickness of the new pack plus the lift i got, my shocks are acting as limiters now. i'm going to rip them apart, so i'm thinking of fabbing a u-bolt flip plate with a shock mount welded to it, which will put the shocks back in the middle of their travel.

thing is, i just paid $35 to get new u-bolts bent up, and that was before i realized this problem. can i just use the new square u-bolts upside down on the round axle? is this a recipe for a bent housing?

it'll probably look goofy but i'm broke now..

any clues?

 

NO, dont do it. The bolts would probably conform to the housing but they will be severly weakened from stretching that far. Get the correct ones

 

i'm reaching that conclusion. i'm going to see if someone around here needs u-bolts and i'll sell them mine and use the proceeds to get round ones

 

Why don't you just weld some shock tabs on top of your axle?

 

that's another consideration. the good thing about the u-bolt flip is that it's easier to weld up (i don't have a big enough welder so i have to do it at a buddy's house), and hell, i get a u-bolt flip out of it

 

I have a U-Bolt flip kit laying around after ordering the thing without realizing I needed a welder. Doh!

Will get it installed eventually - when I find a friend who can weld! lol.

 

i've got a buddy with a big lincoln stick welder. i see copperhead fab sells shock mount plates for $0.80 apiece, or i'll fab my own, and maybe i'll make an appointment with my buddy to go out and burn some holes in my axle